Archives for September 2017

Happy Monday Gang! Hope everyone had a relaxing fall weekend! Even though the weather is still saying summer 🙁 I am holding off on all things pumpkin until the weather dips into the 50s. Last year I started having pumpkin in early September and by the time Halloween rolled around, I was sick of it! Must. not. give. in!

Anyway, after my last race I have not been following any sort of training plan. In case you missed it, you can read my Charles 12 race review here. It’s kind of nice to do just whatever I feel and relax, but I can only take about 2 weeks of that. The type-A, goal setter in me starts to panic haha. With all my races behind me for the year, now is a good time to focus on other stuff that keeps me in shape and healthy for the spring race season.

Like my clients, I am pressed for time and simply cannot afford to work out an hour and a half every day. But you can be smart and pair exercising with the stuff you are already doing every day. Oh, multitasking. It can be a thing of beauty! By doing workouts while watching Netflix or cooking a healthy dinner, you aren’t trying to “find” extra time, you are simply spending the time you have wisely. We all have only 24 hours in a day. As one of my favorite Rocky quotes goes, “Time, you know, takes everybody out, it’s undefeated.”

So if someone asked what exercises should they do, if they could only do 2 exercises the rest of their life, I would tell them pushups and squats. Why? Simply put, these 2 exercises give you the most bang for your buck. They are both total body workouts so they work various muscle groups including our core. No need to waste time doing hundreds or crunches when you can get similar results plus more with squats and pushups. Plus they are convenient and you can do them anywhere!

So in the spirit of challenging oneself, I am doing the 100 pushup challenge!!!

To learn more about the challenge, read the details on the main site. I took the initial test a few days ago and busted out 10 pushups. Woot! Today started day 1 of week 1. I’ll keep you posted on my progress each week of the 6 week challenge!

I did this program about 4 years ago, and by the end I was doing about 35 pushups. It’s not 100 but I think 35 is pretty dang good. Plus I felt and looked stronger!

After week 6, I’ll be onto the 200 squat challenge. Oh yeah!

Will you join me? Use the hashtag #hollyshundred on Instagram and Facebook to show us what you got!! Be sure to follow my page See Holly Run on Facebook for all the updates.

Hey friends! Hope everyone had a nice, relaxing Labor Day weekend! Why can’t every weekend be 3 days?! I definitely needed the extra day to rejuvenate and recover because this past Saturday, I ran the Charles 12 in Baltimore!

This is my third time doing this race and I absolutely love it. Thinking about doing it next year? Here are the details:

Course:

The race starts at The Shops at Kenilworth in Towson and ends at the Under Armour headquarters in Locust Point in Baltimore City (12 miles. Hence the 12 lol). In previous years, the course ended at Power Plant Live. So you had to run about a mile past Power Plant Live into Federal Hill and turn back around to run back to Power Plant Live. Talk about torture! I much prefer the finish at Under Armour because it’s a straight point-to-point course and finishing at Under Armour makes you feel a little badass.

Miles 1 through 4 are pretty hilly, but after that? Smooth sailing all the way down hill! Makes for a pretty fast time. I mean look at this elevation chart!

Race Logistics:

Charm City Run (the race host) offers a shuttle (additional $5 at time of registration) from the finish line to the start line. Ideally you’d park at finish area and then catch the shuttle to the start. While this is a great idea and works for many people, it doesn’t work for those who live in Towson or west of Towson. I would have to drive past the start, get to the finish area early to catch the shuttle, and then schlep back to the start on the bus. My running partner and I opted to drive to the start, park our car next to the shops, and then catch an Uber back to the car from the finish. So was this a better solution? Not really. The Uber wind up costing us $45 and to wait for it to arrive took forever! Next time we will just wake up 2 minutes earlier.

The weather forecast for race day was pouring down rain. Luckily, the race offered bag check so you can check warm and dry clothes to have at the finish. What a lifesaver! By the time I finished, I was soaking wet and after a few minutes, got VERY cold.

My runner partner and I in our best trash bags 🙂

Premium:

The race always hands out a nice premium by Under Armour and is worth the cost of the race entry alone. This year, we received a very nice and thick Cold Gear hoodie.

Food:

This year the race had a selection of food trucks at the finish area and a meal ticket was on your race bib to redeem at any truck you choose. While I really like this idea, it was poorly executed. There were 4 food trucks and they all seemed to serve the same breakfast sandwich? Maybe I’m wrong but that’s all I saw posted on each truck and that’s what everyone was munching on. Plus the lines were incredibly long. So I didn’t eat anything because the wait was crazy and we were ready to go.

Other things to note:

The National Anthem was sung by an incredibly talented young girl. Like, she could sing at a pro-football game good.

The police support was on point! Thank you police officers for keeping us safe!

Bottom Line:

This ranks up there as one of my favorite races. Army Ten Miler holds the #1 spot for me but Charles 12 is in the top 5. Definitely sign up!